


Winter Dragon

by araydre, Fancy_Dragonqueen



Series: Dragon Scales have different shades [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes needs Tony Stark, Fanart, M/M, Mates, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, amazing araydre, dragon Bucky, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 07:10:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13002540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/araydre/pseuds/araydre, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fancy_Dragonqueen/pseuds/Fancy_Dragonqueen
Summary: When Steve calls Tony, his bosom friend Bucky has been turned into a dragon. Tony only helps because he thinks Steve really wants to apologize.What he get's isn't an apology but something much better





	Winter Dragon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Feelingsinwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feelingsinwinter/gifts).



> Happy Birthday our dear beloved Winter *kisses temple* We hope you have a wonderful day <3

Tony cursed.  
There was nothing else to do other than curse.  
After everything that went down in the mockingly called Civil War (and seriously fuck off people), Tony tried to lay low, to stick to his workshop, to not go back into the field. Too much of that reminded him of Steve and the rest, of their betrayal.  
The letter Steve had sent him was a mockery. It wasn’t something he really accepted or wanted to accept. It still hurt too much.  
It wasn’t like he didn’t _want_ to forgive Steve. Or his friend Barnes. Or the others. It was just that he lacked any kind of self preservation and he needed to promise Pepper that he would sleep on it first before he begged Steve to come back.

Not that he would do that.  
Truth be told, Tony didn’t want to see Steve. Never again. Steve had been his friend, but Tony had been betrayed by friends and family often enough. Therefore he wanted to forgive them but to be safe to never be hurt again Tony also wanted to stay wide away from Steve and his former family.  
So, he wasn’t really keen on helping Steve right now.  
Not after he hadn’t even gotten a real, spoken apology when Steve finally deigned to call _him_. Instead, Steve had nearly hyperventilated on the phone, babbling some strange things about his former best friend turned into a fucking dragon of all things and that they needed help to contain him and change him back.

Of fucking course he would help them anyway, though. It was a strange way of Steve to try to gain Tony’s attention but, hell, he wanted his attention. He wanted them to be able to go back to the way things were before everything went down.  
He couldn’t overlook the whole thing. Couldn’t overlook the fact that Barnes had killed his parents. Tony knew he needed to move on, knew he needed to stop being bitter, but he couldn’t just let it go. He could still feel the cold feeling in his stomach as Steve just turned away and left him there.

Tony’s hand found its way to where the arc reactor sat in his chest once more. Steve didn’t know that he needed it again and would not learn about it because Tony wouldn’t tell him. Also he was very quiet to everyone else about it, because he had missed the soothing of the blue light in the night, where he could wrap himself around a pillow and just dream of being not alone. If only he finally found someone to stay with him. He would give everything away for it.

It was at least better to think of it like that as to be reminded of the fact that Steve let him die there in siberia. That he needed the reactor again to stop his heart from failing, something which happened one too many times after it had been removed. Steve would never find out about it. Not about the creeping cold in his veins or the way his breathing had stopped, his heart had raced like it wanted to beat out of his chest. At first he had thought it would be a mere panic attack but the truth was much deadlier than he wanted to admit. Better to think of it as a soothing night light. (Even if it made Tony a coward for not wanting to stick to the facts.)

But now wasn’t the time or the place to think about that, wasn’t the place to fall into the deep pit of self hate he used to bathe in. Tony felt the familiar weight of his armour clicking into place, closed his eyes and inhaled the metallic scent. Home. It smelled like home and fire and everything safe. (It also smelled like defeat and a faint trace of blood but that couldn’t be. Tony shoved the thoughts far away. Not now. Not here. Please.) There was a faint noise in his ear, the communicator springing to life.

“He’s heading to New York. I can’t stop him, he already tried to fucking eat me.”

Falcon.

Tony frowned and shook his head. What the hell? Either they were really pulling his leg or they were right about the dragon thing. He let out a quiet sigh.

“Where to?”

No need to hold everything up with hellos or ‘How are you’. Short and without much emotion. He could do it.

There was a short silence over the comms and then a sudden burst of voices. He tried to ignore the mistrust, the open disapproval and started to fly towards the location FRIDAY gave him.

“What’s he doing here?” Falcon.

“Sure this is a good idea?” Scarlet Witch.

“Do we need to trust him in this?” Ant-Man.

What a nice way to be greeted.

“He can help us to contain him. He has Veronica and if he’s able to hold up Hulk, he can help with Bu… a dragon too.”

Yeah. Thanks for helping Steve. No word to defend him, no word of actually being happy to fight together again. Tony wasn’t sure what to feel. He blinked the tears away, trying to keep his mouth shut. It was hard, harder than the betrayal, but he could do it. For a moment he thought about being childish and returning to the tower, letting them deal with whatever bullshit they had brought upon themselves, but no. He was mature. He could do this. He didn’t turn off the communication or tell them to go fuck themselves. Instead he rose high in the air and moved towards the big, warm energy FRIDAY had detected.

Tony hadn’t brought Veronica, just his normal suit. But right now, as he stopped in the air and stared at the gigantic, flying dragon, he wasn’t sure if it would have made a difference.

In the distance, he heard FRIDAY calling his vitals out to him, but he already knew that his heart was racing, a loud rush in his ears. The others were still talking, but there was no time to listen to them. Instead, he stared into the dragon’s eyes that had stopped flying midair, exposing his big scaly belly and standing, fucking standing, proud in the air, his wings steadily moving to hold him upright.

Tony’s first thought was that it wasn’t possible to carry a body that large and heavy with those wings, but then again he was itching to figure it out. Could be helpful. He could improve Falcon’s wings or even give Hawkeye some… no. No. No. No. He wouldn’t build them any more weapons. Wouldn’t build them armour. Nor any other helpful things. They were dead to him. Dead. He just needed to keep reminding himself.

A mighty roar cut off his thoughts and Tony tried to focus as the dragon watched him with cold, ice-blue eyes. The gaze pierced him and Tony moved down a bit, trying to look unthreatening. Sunlight caught the armour as he moved and the dragon followed his movements. For a second, Tony wasn’t sure if he was following the shine or Tony himself. Dragons loved shiny things, or were those only tall tales for children?

Then the dragon did something with his snout, made a sound almost like sniffing, as if he were trying to get a scent. Perhaps Tony had smelled of blood and hadn’t just imagined things. He heard a little growl again and then the dragon was moving. Moving way too fast. Tony cursed quietly over the comms, ignored Falcon’s, “He has seen Stark and is moving toward him! Damn, Stark! Fly away!” and tried to back away. Not fast enough. The dragon’s head was almost as big as his armour and Tony was sure if the dragon wanted to eat him he would just open his mouth and be able to swallow him in one go. He really didn’t know why he didn’t flee. There might be a death wish. But not really. He was just struck by the whole thing, his eyes fixed on the creature’s metal arm. This really was Cap’s best friend wasn’t it? And he not only killed his parents but now would kill their son, too. Fitting.

But, instead of opening his mouth, the dragon stopped in front of him, letting out something that sounded like a fucking purr and nudging Tomy’s chest, pushed him backwards with the force of the shove. The dragon following his movement. It reminded him of Pepper’s cats that tried to headbutt him. What the…

Tony couldn’t think further, he felt the dragon shake, a wild fire suddenly in his eyes and a fearsome roar out of his throat. Yeah, those were some nice, big, pointy sharp teeth there. Tony swallowed, but instead of being eaten the dragon turned, turned and cried out, dashed towards Falcon who shot at him with a ridiculous gun to what? Save him? The dragon hadn’t attacked, not that Tony had seen it, but now he was up to attacking Falcon and Tony somehow wasn’t sure if the dragon would headbutt him as well, more like headbutt his teeth around the man’s torso.

Tony wanted to shout out that it was okay, he wasn’t harmed, but then the gigantic tail hit him square in the chest and he felt the metal bending, slightly cutting into his skin. A pained gasp escaped his lips and he wasn’t able to stop his crash into one of the buildings. Hopefully an empty one. For a moment he felt like his breath had been knocked out of his lungs, pain crushing through his body. The armour was already damaged, not able to soften the landing. Dust and debris landing on him, over his body, his ears were filled with the sudden, heavy rush of his blood. There was blood in his mouth, from where he had bit his lip, a sweet, familiar, metallic taste. Tony could hear the battle outside. Well, not a battle. The dragon would crush Falcon, but he was tiny and could use his skills to confuse the dragon. Hopefully.

They would shove the blame on him, like they did with everything.

Tony coughed, trying to sit up and get out of the helmet, trying to get more air into his lungs. It was stupid, he knew, but he needed air on his face, needed to know that he wasn’t trapped. The metal plate snapped open just in time with the floor to collapse under him. He could hear a scream, perhaps his own, as he felt the floor moving, taking him with it and crushing him through another one, until he finally stopped falling. His back collided with the hard surface, his head hitting something, and he could only watch the debris and dust raining on him like faint mist. There was a crackling in the comms, but Tony couldn’t hear what was said, not even FRIDAY’s soothing voice. His body was so heavy, everything hurt and, as he felt another wall crashing down on him, he smiled tiredly, knowing that this was a stupid way to die. At least he could tell everyone in the afterlife that he was killed by a dragon, not a building. Suddenly, a big head shoved itself over him, shielding him from the falling stones that rained around him and it was surely the pain and the slowly loss of blood that made him imagine the distressed sound the dragon was making, the light shove to his chest. His eyes locked with the dragon’s - Bucky’s - and Tony let them fall shut. There was no need to worry anymore.

Tony felt at peace despite the pain and a sudden lift of his body, almost careful, and then there was air on his face. He still wasn’t able to move, to open his eyes. He could hear a cry from far away, then another roar. It felt like flying but much, much faster and finally felt nothing as the darkness took him.  
~~**~~

The first thing Tony was aware of was pain. Crushing pain on his chest, his head and his whole face. And something very wet on his face. Maybe water. He couldn’t remember anything at first. Then there was suddenly something in his face, a wet and kinda rough thing. It was warm, but not unpleasantly so. And it drooled.

 

“What the…”

 

With a groan and half of a curse he opened his eyes and stared right into slowly blinking blue eyes. Huge blue eyes. Belonging to a very, very large head. There were scales over said head and, for a moment, he felt like he was dreaming until he remembered Cap’s bosom friend had turned into a big, scary dragon. He actually wasn't that scary at the moment, with the content and almost happy purr the creature gave him and the next lick that made his face much wetter. Tony’s eyes pressed shut and his mouth transformed into a disgusted pout.

Bwah.

Dragon spit everywhere. He could feel it not only on his face but on the rest of his body, too, where it was exposed to the air. Somehow the dragon had managed to pull the armour out of the way, without damaging Tony’s battered frame much more. Not that he felt the pain now. There was no pain. With a frown he managed to drag his hand onto his head and… there was no blood, no more pain. Not even on his lips. Weird. He hadn’t imagined the pain, hadn’t he? Tony would bet he had bit his lips bloody in the suit, but there was no more blood and it didn’t hurt when he poked the soft flesh. Really weird.

How long had he been there?  
Obviously Tony hadn’t moved for too long because there was the tongue again.

“Hey. Buddy... Stop that. Please. I already need a bath. No need to drool more on me, you big, scary puppy.”

Tony shoved the snout away, not even flinching at the way the dragon moved its head back, and tried to sit up. The rest of the armour opened and he groaned as he felt every goddamn muscle in his body where the armour has protected him from dragonspit. In front of him, the dragon mimicked his movement and flopped with a loud crash on his ass. He really looked like a big puppy, his mouth a bit open and his tongue darting out, obviously wanting to lick him again. Wouldn’t take much and he would wag his tail and beg for belly rubs. Tony snorted at the thought. Perhaps he had hit his head a bit harder than he believed in the beginning.

Still, as his eyes roamed over his body, there weren’t any cuts to be seen, just his normal skin, all healed up and covered in something a bit slimy what seemed to be dragon spit. It tingled on his skin, but didn’t hurt so he deemed it safe.

“Now what…? You going to eat me?”

He dared to look up, watch the dragon that tilted his head to the side. For the first time, he could really look at the dragon, it’s shiny scales - and he would have snorted at the thought that Barnes would be a violet dragon - but there he was looking at him and admiring the view. He looked gorgeous and the color somehow suited him, his wings turning into midnight blue. Just the eyes and the cold metal claw reminded Tony of the Winter Soldier, or else he would have thought this was a real dragon, smooth and beautiful. The dragon moved, slowly putting his claws together and then lowering his head, laying it on his claws like a dog would lay his head on his paws. He yawned and Tony snickered at the image but mirrored his yawn after a second. Tired. That’s what he was, too, despite only just waking up minutes before.

Tony was still covered in spit but there was no water that he could see, not that he could look through the cave walls where they were hiding. The suit seemed to be damaged beyond repair, for the moment. He couldn’t hear FRIDAY or the rest and so he decided to just go with the flow, stumbling onto his feet like a newborn calf. The dragon watched him, unmoving but growled with pleasure as Tony lay beside him, snuggling up to the warm dragon belly. Barnes moved, and when did he turned from dragon into Barnes? He snuggled Tony closer to his belly with his snout, licking a last time before he laid a wing protective around him, making him unable to escape, but that was okay. Tony was tired and he didn’t want to go anywhere. Under the wing it was nice and warm. He could feel Barnes’s steady heartbeat and it lulled him into a deep and soothing sleep, deeper than any sleep he’d had in the last few months, perhaps years.

It wasn’t really surprising to wake up well rested and safe the second time, his body not hurting anymore, even though it wasn’t something he had felt in years. He still remembered the night, or was it day, before. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he snuggled back, closer to the warm, naked body behind him, the metal arm dragging him near, and he could feel warm lips on his neck. Tony smiled with closed eyes and felt a soft purr on his back, the metal arm suddenly starting to caress his belly. That was nice. It felt good to be hold like that. Felt right.

Tony wanted to get back to sleep, enjoy it some more, when it suddenly hit him. He was being spooned by a dragon. Former dragon. Whatever. He should be fighting him, should be scared, but instead the rush of thoughts in his head had calmed down and he was lying here and feeling good. Secure. It shouldn’t feel so right. That wasn’t fair. But it did.

“Thinking too much.”

A sleepdrunk, dark voice washed over him, making goosebumps raise across his skin. Even Barnes’s damn voice sounded too nice to be real.

“What the hell, Barnes?! Stop cuddling with me naked. Weren’t you killing me last time?”

It wasn’t fair to yell at the man. Wasn’t fair to fight in his confused state because he wanted to hurt and to hide, not to feel this happy feeling inside his body, the butterflies in his belly. He felt a sob in his throat, not sure if he could keep it in. With a sudden yank he was turned and was now lying on his back, Barnes towering over him.

“I want you. You are mine.”

There was really nothing to be said to that and Tony blinked in confusion at Bucky, opened his mouth to ask what the hell was happening, but Barnes ignored him in favour of burying his nose into Tony’s neck and inhaling his scent.

“Mine. Mate is mine.”

“Ooookay, buddy. I dunno what you’re playing at right now, but, man, I don’t even know if someone is able to act like this. Also, I hope that’s a weapon in your trousers. That you’re not wearing because obviously you’re naked. And no way that will fit. So no. Not mating. Bad dragon.”

The response wasn’t a laugh, it was more of a needy and sad whine. Barnes rubbed his face on Tony’s cheek, maybe to change his decision. Tony wasn’t quite sure. He didn’t even know what was happening right now. What he knew was that he wanted a bath. Shower. Jump into a lake. Anything. He was sticky and stinking from dragon spit and dust and cave and he felt just itchy.

“You know what, buddy? We could move?”

The growl he got was not a good answer, but he would try to talk to this insane guy. He still seemed to be stuck in whatever had happened to his brain. Not that his body was like a dragon anymore, but his mind certainly still seemed to be.

“I told you we could move. Like you could carry me, you can still change into a dragon can’t you? If not, we have a problem.”

There was a short silence and then suddenly the warmth was gone. Fucking gone. Barnes stood up in all his naked glory and Tony couldn’t help but stare and lick his lips because come on. That was a glorious thing he was forbidding himself here. Still, if they were to do something like that he needed Barnes to be in his own mind, not a beast that didn’t know what he was doing. He was more the sane, safe sex type with a few kinks. Like being held down by that wonderful metal arm. But not like this, when the man wasn’t able to form full sentences like a real human. What was that about mates, anyway? They weren’t animals. Well, Barnes was part animal right now. They really needed to figure that one out. And it would be really hard to say no to him if he started the whole snuggling and scenting him again.

Tony didn’t know what he wanted right now, but the longing for another night like this, another cuddle like that, the feeling of being loved and protected by a person that wasn’t going to leave, still lingered. Mates were for life, after all, if he remembered the things he learned in the discovery channel right. Perhaps it was time to let go and allow himself a little bit of that. And they needed to talk. Perhaps if he came to like Barnes, he would get his friends back, too. There was still hope.

Also a really big, badass dragon was standing in front of him, Barnes fully transformed, and looking so proud it made Tony’s heart swell.

“Well, then. Bring me back home, yes? I will show you where and then you can change and we can cuddle some more, okay?”

The dragon made a rumbling and happy noise, prompting Tony to snort and pet his snout.It was really nice to pet him like this and his human body wasn’t that bad either. Perhaps he should thank that witch for her spell. It was the first time in months that he had the feeling that everything will turn out right. Will turn out good. It made him smile. The dragon headbutted him again, causing Tony to laugh and scratch his scales behind his, well… where his cheekbones would be. The dragon rolled his eyes, purring in obvious joy and almost crushed Tony while trying to get more of it.

“Easy, there. First home, then bathing, and then you will get all the scratches.”

Barnes, Bucky, seemed happy with that, showing him his back and making himself as flat as possible, giving Tony access to his back to climb on him. Tony didn’t know why he trusted Barnes to not throw him from his back, to not lose him, but there he was, clinging to the dragon's throat, smiling like a lunatic, and cheering him on. They had so much fun there, the dragon clearly aware of what he was doing and they were taking much, much longer than needed. Tony giggled and snuggled closer to the dragon, still exhausted, and rubbed his face on the smooth scales. Time to head home, time to face the others. He almost begged the dragon to return to the cave, but he was hungry and somehow he feared that the man would just bring him a dead rabbit and wait for Tony to eat it raw. Nope. No, thank you.

It wasn’t long after that that the tower appeared. Bucky landing on Tony’s normal landing pad, where he would land in his suit. Suddenly, there were people, all of them. The dragon growled, backing away and on the edge of flying away again.

“Easy. Those are friends. They are nice. Nothing will happen, everything is alright.”

Tony climbed off Bucky, careful about still touching him the whole time and petting him softly.

“They won’t hurt you.”

They would never hurt him. Steve would never hurt his beloved friend, he thought bitterly for a moment. He would betray his newer friends, but never would turn against-  
His thought was once again interrupted by a growl. He really needed to talk to Bucky about that, not interrupting sad thoughts with growling at Steve, of all people. With a slight frown, he watched the exchange, till a wing curled itself protectively around him and dragged him closer to Bucky, shielding him from the curious views of the others. Tony couldn’t help but feel proud of that, closing his eyes and cuddling against the metal leg until he felt Bucky changing. Strong arms surrounded him, a warm one with skin and another metal one, crushing Tony against his chest. There was another growl, sending shivers over Tony’s back.

“My mate.”

It sounded stubborn, like he feared someone would take Tony away from him. Tony would have laughed if it wasn’t so heartwarming. But right now there was no need to fight and there was only one thing that came to his mind to distract Barnes enough to just focus on him. Only to make sure of course that there was no fighting, not because he really craved this right now. Tony turned in the embrace and laid his hands on Bucky’s face, stared into those beautiful, blue eyes and drawing all the attention to him.

With a soft smile, he stood on his tiptoes, leaning into the embrace and closing his eyes while his lips found Bucky’s. With a soft purr, he moved his lips, careful not to scare the skittish dragon. He tasted sweet and spicy and there was a hint of smoke in his breath, not the bad kind of cigarettes but the kind of smoke that reminded him of campfires. The arms around him tightened and he felt the stares and whispers of the rest, but kindly ignoring them. Their lips parted and both of them wore a slight smile. Bucky’s eyes suddenly much clearer than before and there was a soft twinkle in them, not only the cold stare the dragon had in his eyes. Tony laughed breathless, his hands not leaving the soft face, caressing Bucky’s cheekbones with his thumbs.

“Yes. Yours.”


End file.
